By The Office of Sustainability Practices

GVSU’s campus is nearly 1,500 acres – complete with nearly 20 LEED-certified buildings, a golf course, a trail system, a stormwater management complex and a seven-acre arboretum. Students can go through their entire academic career here and not know all of these things exist. For freshmen in particular, exploring all of the different areas and services on campus can be overwhelming and confusing. They may not know where to start or be afraid to ask.

GVSU’s Office of Sustainability Practices exists to help connect students with sustainability on campus and in the community. If you have questions about classes or careers in this field or how to volunteer or get involved on campus, we’re a good place to start.

Let’s take transportation and recycling – two services that Grand Valley excels at but students may be unfamiliar with.

How to Ride the Bus:

GVSU students (with a valid ID) can ride The Rapid for free. That includes various routes throughout the greater Grand Rapids area and four main routes near campus:

• 1. Route 37 – North Campus Express to various apartments
• 2. Route 48 – South Campus Express to various apartments
• 3. Route 50 – Campus Connector to the downtown Pew Campus
• 4. Route 51 – Health Sciences/DASH to the hill to downtown Grand Rapids

Route 50 runs every six minutes during the fall and winter semesters. It stops at various sites along Lake Michigan Drive, including the free park and rides at the Walker Fire Station and Meijer in Standale, and the Rapid Central Station in downtown Grand Rapids. The other routes also run every 5 to 10 minutes and all leave from outside Kirkhof. A full list of stops and other information, including real-time data on bus arrivals, can be found at
www.gvsu.edu/bus.

Riding the bus has a lot of great benefits: you save money on gas, you can work on homework or read while you’re riding, and you can bring your bike along. Every bus has a rack on front where you can hook your bike on, making sustainable transportation even easier.

How to Recycle:

Recycle bins are in every building on GVSU’s campus. Facilities services staff empty the bins on a weekly basis and the materials are sent to the Kent County Recycling Center, which accepts a variety of items including paper, aluminum, plastic, etc. For each ton of paper that is recycled, a huge amount of resources are saved including 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, three cubic yards of landfill space and 60 pounds of air pollutants.

Here’s what you can recycle on campus:

• Plastics marked with #1-7. You can find this number printed inside the common recycling triangle symbol on the bottom of most plastic objects. Many plastic shopping bags can also be recycled;
• Glass containers;
• Metal cans. Aerosol cans are not accepted;
• Household batteries;
• Cardboard. Milk and juice cartons are not accepted. Pizza boxes can be composted;
• Paper. Paper towels and plates, tissues and paper with adhesive cannot be recycled.

Visit
www.recyclekent.org for a more detailed list of accepted recyclable items. You can find marked recycle bins in every campus restaurant and academic building, as well as in the trash room of every living center. Most everything else that can be purchased on campus can be composted, including: plates, bowls and cutlery at campus dining locations; the white Pepsi cups with a green leaf printed on the side, including the lid and the straw; and any food waste. If you’re ever unsure about where to dispose of your items, just ask a campus dining staff member or seek guidance from The Office of Sustainability Practices. We’re just a click away at [email protected], you can drop by our office at 224 Lake Ontario Hall, or call us at 331-7366.